Showing posts with label Sub-Mariner. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sub-Mariner. Show all posts
Sunday, September 25, 2022
Saturday, April 25, 2020
Wednesday, October 31, 2018
Tuesday, January 2, 2018
Recently Read: Golden Age Marvel Comics, Vol. 1
This volume is tabula rosa for Marvel comics, reprintings of
the earliest comics Marvel published, starting in 1939: Marvel Mystery
Comics 1-4. The (Golden Age android) Human Torch gets his start here;
some of the other serialized strips are the Tarzan ripoff Ka-Zar (pulled
over from the company's pulp magazines), Ferret, a bland detective with
a ferret on his shoulder, The Angel, a bland superhero with no powers,
the robot Electro, boldly drawn by Steve Dahlman. The star of the show
is Bill Everett's lovingly written, drawn and colored Sub-Mariner, here,
as always, an enraged terrorist wanting to sometimes destroy western
civilization and helping it at others. A Roy Crane-influenced war strip,
American Ace, died too soon, but every issue of Marvel Mystery Comics
is worth your time, a precious snapshot of comics history.
Beware: avoid the original 2004 printing, which I unwittingly paid good money for. It's the worst comic book reprint reproduction I've ever seen; it looks like a bad microfiche source, wretchedly "fixed", with illegible lettering, dropped out and darkened art in every panel and incorrect coloring. That reconstruction was by Jerron Quality Color in Sparta, Illinois. The cover price was $50! The 2011 edition, by Pacific Rim Graphics (art) and Wesley Wong (colors) is markedly improved.
Beware: avoid the original 2004 printing, which I unwittingly paid good money for. It's the worst comic book reprint reproduction I've ever seen; it looks like a bad microfiche source, wretchedly "fixed", with illegible lettering, dropped out and darkened art in every panel and incorrect coloring. That reconstruction was by Jerron Quality Color in Sparta, Illinois. The cover price was $50! The 2011 edition, by Pacific Rim Graphics (art) and Wesley Wong (colors) is markedly improved.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Recent Marvel Comics Golden Age Restorations
The first sample above is from a previous Marvel reprinting (in a $50.00 hardcover book); it's appallingly unfaithful to the early '40s source material.
The second sample is a glorious restoration from a recent Marvel Omnibus collection, Golden Age Marvel Comics, Vol. 1 - beautiful colors and textures that allow you to see the subtlety cartoonist Bill Everett put into his work.
Click on the drawings for a larger view to compare.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
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